WATERLOO – Laurier’s Faculty of Education and its Centre for Women in Science are joining forces this summer to offer an innovative science camp for girls in Grades 7 to 9 called Girls Exploring New Ideas Using Science (G.E.N.I.U.S.).

G.E.N.I.U.S. will be held at Laurier’s Waterloo campus July 8 to 12, and will focus on topics including aeronautics, engineering, electronics, chemistry, biology, and optics. Students will have the opportunity to work on projects related to these topics, and interact with professors in customized lectures. They will also visit the Waterloo-based Perimeter Institute, a leading centre for scientific research, training, and educational outreach in foundational theoretical physics, and the Mike & Ophelia Lazaridis Quantum-Nano Centre, where they will explore the science of the incredibly small.

“With the opening of the Centre for Women in Science, we have the capacity to work collaboratively and innovatively to inspire girls to focus on science,” said Colleen Willard-Holt, dean of Laurier’s Faculty of Education. “This is an excellent opportunity for young women to expand their minds with others who are also interested in science and technology.”

The mandate of the Centre for Women in Science is to increase the number of female leaders and role models in academia, government and industry, as well as to celebrate women’s contributions to science and mathematical social sciences.

“What better way to encourage gifted girls to go into math and science than to develop these ideas early on in a student’s education,” said Shohini Ghose, associate professor of Physics and Computer Science and director of the Centre for Women in Science. “We are very happy to be partnering with the Faculty of Education for this initiative.”

G.E.N.I.U.S. is being held as part of the Faculty of Education’s LEAP (Laurier Enriched Academic Program) summer camp, which provides gifted students in Grades 1 to 9 the opportunity to participate in enrichment activities. Now in its fifth year, LEAP will welcome up to 350 students this summer during its two sessions July 8 to 12 and July 15 to 19.